Tanker pays record $5.3m to transit Panama Canal amid El Niño drought

A tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas paid a record $5.3 million (€4.5 million) for priority passage through the Panama Canal ahead of El Niño-related restrictions, the waterway's deputy administrator told AFP on Thursday.

South Korean company SK Gas paid the record sum for the G. Spirit to transit the canal on 1 September, two days before authorities are due to reduce the number of daily transits due to the El Niño weather phenomenon, Bloomberg reported.

Panama declared an emergency over El Niño on Tuesday as a severe regional drought continues to deplete the water reserves needed to operate the canal.

Rainfall deficits have reached up to 60% on the country's Pacific side, while 11 watersheds are already experiencing water stress.

Central America is in the throes of a severe drought driven by El Niño, a weather pattern that warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, triggering worldwide changes in winds, atmospheric pressure and rainfall.

Ships usually book their Panama Canal passage well in advance, while those without reservations face an average wait of five days. Last-minute slots can also be secured through an auction.

The Panama Canal Authority said the average price paid at auction between October 2025 and February 2026 was around $55,000 (€47,000).

In April, however, a vessel carrying liquefied natural gas paid $4 million (€3.4 million) to skip the queue and avoid delays as the war in the Middle East increased demand for moving vital cargo through the canal.

The waterway, which handles around five percent of global maritime trade, will reduce daily transits from 36 to 34 from 3 September, before cutting them further to 32 later in the month.

In 2023 the water level in the lakes feeding the canal was so low the waterway's operators cut the daily ship transit number from 38 to 22.

El Niño is expected to intensify in the coming months, with its effects potentially lasting until May 2027.